President Biden announced on Monday that he will visit North Carolina on Wednesday after Hurricane Helene ravaged the state. 

The president’s announcement comes after critics slammed him for a lack of leadership after the monster storm’s devastating impact on the southeastern portion of the country. 

More than 120 people have been killed by Helene since the hurricane made landfall in Florida late Thursday before tearing a path of destruction through the interior Southeast.

The storm caused millions of power outages and billions in property damage as it smashed through the southern Appalachian Mountains and into the Tennessee Valley. 

ASHEVILLE RESIDENTS BATTLING ‘APOCALYPTIC’ AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE HELENE AFTER DEADLY FLOODING, LANDSLIDES

While days have passed since the storm struck the region, Biden has not visited the area nor had plans to until now.

“On Wednesday, I’ll travel to North Carolina for a briefing at the State Emergency Operations Center and to participate in an aerial tour of Asheville,” Biden said in a post on X. “I’ve ensured my travel will not disrupt the ongoing response. I plan to travel to Georgia and Florida as soon as possible.”

But the president’s announcement was followed by harsh criticism from the public, with one person writing, “Joe Biden’s visit is too little, too late.”

Another person wrote, “Don’t come to Florida we got hit ground zero. The governor is covering it,” referring to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Still, several people wrote that Biden is only visiting because former President Trump had already gone to areas damaged by Helene.

BIDEN GETS DEFENSIVE WHEN PUSHED ON WHO’S ‘COMMANDING’ HURRICANE HELENE RESPONSE

Trump stopped in Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday where he was briefed on the devastation left by the storm, but he also assisted with relief distribution and delivered remarks.

“I’ve come to Valdosta with large semitrucks, many of them filled with relief aid. A tanker truck filled up with gasoline, a couple of big tanker trucks filled up with gasoline, which they can’t get now. And we’ll be working to distribute it throughout the day,” Trump said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for more information about the president’s visit to North Carolina this week.

HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN: HURRICANE HELENE IN EYE OF THE CAMPAIGN STORM

During a press conference about the federal response to Hurricane Helene on Monday, Biden vowed to visit some of the most devastated areas.

At the end of the press conference, he got defensive when a reporter pressed him about who was in command over the weekend to direct hurricane response as he spent the weekend at his Delaware beach home.

The reporter yelled as the president walked out of the Roosevelt Room, “Mr. President, why weren’t you and Vice President Harris here in Washington commanding this this weekend?”

BIDEN ADMIN’S FEMA ‘EQUITY’ PLAN FACES BACKLASH AMID HISTORIC HURRICANE DAMAGE: ‘WHAT AN EMBARRASSMENT’

In response, Biden said he was commanding it, explaining he was on the phone for “at least two hours” on Sunday and the day before.

North Carolina and Georgia were among the hardest-hit states. They are also two of the seven key battleground states where razor-thin margins decided Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over Trump and are expected to determine the outcome of the 2024 showdown between Harris, the Democrat nominee, and Trump.

At the start of his remarks during the press briefing earlier in the day, Biden assured that he and his team were “in constant contact with governors, mayors and local leaders” regarding Hurricane Helene. 

The president noted that Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell was on the ground in North Carolina and would remain in the Asheville area.

Biden also said he directed the Federal Communications Commission to help establish communications capability and the National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Defense “to provide all the resources at its disposal to rescue and assist in clearing debris and delivering lifesaving supplies.” 

So far, more than 3,600 personnel have been approved. Biden has also approved requests from the governors of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Alabama for an emergency declaration.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer needs to “immediately reconvene” the upper chamber so it can consider measures to approve FEMA funding in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation, Sen. Rick Scott said in a statement today.

“While I know from my experience with previous hurricanes that FEMA and SBA damage assessments take time, I am today urging Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to immediately reconvene the U.S. Senate when those assessments are completed so that we can pass the clean supplemental disaster funding bill and other disaster relief legislation, like my Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act, needed to ensure the full recovery of families in all impacted communities,” said the Florida Republican.

On Saturday night, following Sen. Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio’s letter to President Joe Biden urging his immediate approval of a Major Disaster Declaration for the State of Florida, President Biden approved the request. This Major Disaster Declaration approval follows last week’s approval of the State of Florida’s request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration for potentially impacted Florida counties at the request of Senators Scott and Rubio.

The interim spending bill approved last week to avoid a government shutdown “anticipated” the possibility of Hurricane Helene ravaging parts of the U.S. So that’s why lawmakers made sure that FEMA could spend down its current reserves more quickly to respond to immediate needs after the storm. Moreover, a senior House Republican source told Fox that “this is why it would have been a bad idea to shut down the government.”

BIDEN GETS DEFENSIVE WHEN PUSHED ON WHO’S COMMANDING’ HURRICANE HELENE RESPONSE

But earlier today, ahead of Scott’s statement, a senior congressional source familiar with the purse strings conceded that “it would not surprise me” if lawmakers were recalled to Washington to approve additional money to respond to immediate needs because the devastation has been so bad.”

“I’m not adverse to that,” said one senior House Republican. “And I would not agree with those who say we’re not coming back.”

That said, another senior House Republican told Fox, “We will definitely need to appropriate emergency funds. Western North Carolina is like New Orleans during Katrina.” But the source cautioned that it was doubtful Congress would have to act in the next month. That’s different compared to Congress coming back into an emergency session just days after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2006.

One thing to watch in the coming days is whether or not FEMA has enough money in the near-term to respond to the catastrophic impact of Helene.

Congress left town without providing enough disaster relief to address “older” natural disasters. In particular, there has been a push to provide more money to address Hurricane Beryl which hit Texas in July. There are also issues responding to tornadoes in Iowa. And there is a longstanding issue with providing enough money to Hawaii after wildfires charred Maui last year. 

Some lawmakers wanted the additional disaster aid loaded onto the interim spending bill that Congress approved last week to keep the government open — and then left town through mid-November.

However, the temporary spending bill did give FEMA authority to draw down the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) more rapidly. The question is whether the DRF bottoms out after Helene. Or, certainly if there are impacts from other potential storms that may soon churn in the Gulf of Mexico. Fox is told a combination of another storm — coupled with addressing needs following Helene — could bleed the coffers at FEMA.

RESCUE MISSIONS UNDERWAY IN NORTH CAROLINA AFTER HURRICANE HELENE BRINGS ‘HISOTIRC’ FLOODING, LANDSLIDES

That said, one source familiar with congressional spending indicated that despite the near-apocalyptic nature of Helene, we just don’t know enough yet about the needs. A better sense of things could come later this week.

So what happens if FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund dwindles too much?

Congress could be recalled to re-load the fund. That happened in the late summer of 2005 following Hurricane Katrina. Congress was out of session during the customary August recess — which often stretches a few days into early September. Several days after Katrina hit, it was clear that the impacts would drain FEMA’s funds quickly. In a dramatic midnight session, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) recalled the Senate and a skeleton crew to approve the additional aid. The House shortly followed suit. 

A judge in Fulton County, Georgia, has overturned the state’s “Heartbeat Law” on abortion, which made it illegal to terminate a pregnancy after six weeks.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney issued the order on Monday, saying abortions must be regulated the way they were before the “Heartbeat Law” went into effect, meaning abortions could be allowed until the 22-week mark.

“The authors of our Constitutions, state and federal, entrusted to future generations a charter protecting the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning,” McBurney wrote in his final order. “A review of our higher courts’ interpretations of ‘liberty’ demonstrates that liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.

“That power is not, however, unlimited,” the judge added. “When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then – and only then – may society intervene.”

GEORGIA SUPREME COURT REJECTS CHALLENGE TO ABORTION LAW

McBurney continued, saying a law that prevents abortions after six weeks was inconsistent with those rights as well as the proper balance that a viability rule establishes between a woman’s rights and society’s interests in protecting and caring for unborn infants.

He then declared the “Life Act” as “unconstitutional.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed the “Heartbeat” abortion bill, also known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act,” into law in 2019. The law made abortions after the six-week mark illegal.

GEORGIA GOV. BRIAN KEMP SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL ‘HEARTBEAT’ BILL INTO LAW

There were exceptions written into the law, including rape and incest, as long as a police report was filed. Another exception to the law allowed for abortions after six weeks if the mother’s life was at risk or if a serious medical condition rendered a fetus inviable.

The law signed by Kemp was blocked by a federal judge in October 2019 — before it went into effect — and ruled it violated the right to abortion established by Roe. v. Wade in 1973.

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which cleared the way for Georgia’s law on abortion to go into effect.

GEORGIA ABORTION LAW: A LOOK BACK AT WHAT HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION COMPANIES HAVE SAID ABOUT FILMING IN THE STATE

McBurney, in November 2022, ruled the law was “unequivocally unconstitutional” because it was enacted in 2019 when Roe v. Wade allowed abortions after six weeks.

But in October 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected the ruling in a 6-1 decision, saying McBurney was wrong.

“When the United States Supreme Court overrules its own precedent interpreting the United States Constitution, we are then obligated to apply the Court’s new interpretation of the Constitution’s meaning on matters of federal constitutional law,” Justice Verda Colvin wrote for the majority.

McBurney’s ruling on Monday stated that the state, county, municipal and other local authorities are “enjoined” from seeking to enforce the six-week abortion law.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Biden-Harris administration’s disaster relief agency is facing backlash after its unearthed emergency management blueprint went viral amid the destructive hurricane that recently ravaged the southern U.S.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website lists a set of three goals as part of their strategic plan to “address key challenges” in emergency management. The number one goal listed in the agency’s priorities is to “instill equity as a foundation of emergency management.” 

The second goal is “Lead Whole of Community in Climate Resilience” and the third goal is “Promote & Sustain a Ready FEMA & Prepared Nation.”

According to FEMA’s plan, “Diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be optional.” 

HURRICANE HELENE WREAKS HAVOC ACROSS ASHEVILLE, NC; NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYED, 119 RESCUED

“This requires that FEMA’s leadership and workforce demonstrate an increased commitment to integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion in delivering the agency’s mission. FEMA must draw upon its staff’s diversity and range of experiences to consistently inform programming, policy, and decision-making,” the FEMA plan continued. “Through investment in diversity and inclusion efforts – including Employee Resource Groups and multicultural training – FEMA can increase its employees’ involvement and participation in cultivating a culture of inclusion.”

After Hurricane Helene broke out, leaving over 100 dead across six states and millions without power, social media users began criticizing FEMA’s strategic plan in the midst of the damage.

“I’m sure people who’ve lost loved ones, lost their homes and now see their town underwater feel really great knowing that FEMA’s #1 goal is to be woke. Everything about their terrible response makes sense now. What an embarrassment,” conservative activist Robby Starbuck said in a post on X.

“Our government is broken,” wrote author and scientist Robert Malone, M.D., of the agency’s plan. “I heartily disagree – the first priority of FEMA should be emergency response management.”

“If FEMA response for #HurricaneHelene is slower, it could be attributed to the agency making equity a ‘foundation of emergency management,’” Gabriella Hoffman, an Independent Women’s Forum’s director, said on X. “Yikes.”

FEMA, however, denies that the agency’s strategic plan has interfered with hurricane disaster relief.

“That is a lie. We help all people regardless of background as fast as possible before, during and after disasters. That is our mission and that is our focus,” director of public affairs Jaclyn Rothenberg told Fox News Digital. “We care about people, all people. We take our responsibility very seriously to help all communities regardless of background, so that we understand where people are coming from and what their need is so we can provide life-saving and life-sustaining support.”

FOX CORPORATION LAUNCHES DONATION DRIVE FOR AMERICAN RED CROSS HURRICANE HELENE RELIEF EFFORTS

“In case you’re wondering why the response to Hurricane Helene has been a disaster… Fema’s goal 1 is to instill equity as a foundation of emergency management. This is real,” Libs of TikTok, an influential conservative account known for reposting far-left content, said in a post.

“Other government agencies have declared DEI to be part of the scientific process, and therefore beyond the reach of elected officials,” Russ Greene, a senior fellow for economic progress at Stand Together Trust, wrote on X.

President Biden got defensive Monday during a press conference when he was pressed by a reporter on who was in command over the weekend to direct hurricane response since he was at his beach home in Delaware.

“I was commanding it,” Biden declared from the doorway. “I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well. I command it. It’s called a telephone and all my security people.”

Biden turned again to leave as the reporter began to ask, “Is it not important for the country to see?” 

The president left and the door closed mid-question.

At the start of his remarks, Biden assured that he and his team were “in constant contact with governors, mayors and local leaders” regarding Hurricane Helene. 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed reporting.

It’s doubtful that this week’s debate between Vice Presidential nominees Tim Walz and JD Vance will command quite the same attention as the debate between the nominees: Vice President Harris and former President Trump. But historically, tilts between the running mates are often more pugilistic. A lot feistier. More fun to watch. And sometimes, more memorable.

It’s hard to say why the undercard can be more intriguing than the main event. But first round playoff games in hockey are often better matches than the Stanley Cup Finals. I’ve long asserted that the American League and National League Championship Series is generally more competitive baseball than what you experience during the World Series.

Perhaps it has something to do with the vice presidential candidates introducing themselves to the audience. They simply aren’t as well known.

“Who am I? Why am I here?,” quipped late Rear Admiral James Stockdale when independent Presidential candidate Ross Perot tapped him as his 1992 running mate.

IN CONGRESS – LIKE BASEBALL – THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR

Stockdale’s folksy line immediately drew laughter and applause from the crowd gathered that night in Atlanta.

“I’m not a politician. Everybody knows that. So don’t expect me to use the language of the Washington insider,” said Stockdale from his lectern wedged between future President Clinton’s running mate, then-Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn., and Vice President Dan Quayle.

While Gore and Quayle quarreled, their verbal fusillades caromed back and forth in front of Stockdale. He was mostly a mute bystander. At one point, trying to get in a word edgewise, Stockdale abruptly blurted that he felt like he was in the “middle of a Ping-Pong” match.

Later in the debate, moderator Hal Bruno of ABC News asked if mudslinging tactics were “necessary” in the campaign. Stockdale replied he didn’t hear the question.

“I didn’t have my hearing aid turned on. Tell me again,” Stockdale requested of Bruno, again triggering howls from the audience.

Sometimes the VP candidates must feel each other out.

EXPERTS PREVIEW VANCE-WALZ DEBATE, SAY USUALLY ‘FORGETTABLE’ VP BOUT ‘MIGHT BE DIFFERENT’ THIS TIME

“The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight,” said then-Vice President Dick Cheney to former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., then John Kerry’s running mate at the 2004 VP debate.

Running mates sometimes try to appear more down-to-Earth than those at the top of the ticket.

“Nice to meet ya,” declared former Alaska Governor and 2008 VP nominee Sarah Palin (R) as she shook the hand of then-Senator Biden on stage in St. Louis. “Can I call you Joe?”

“You can call me Joe,” responded the future president with a smile.

Mr. Biden tried to exude an “aw, shucks,” lunchpail personae in the 2012 VP debate. He deployed lay language when trading barbs with GOP VP nominee and future House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.

“When we look weak, our adversaries are more willing to test us. They’re more brazen in their attacks,” said Ryan.

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“With all due respect, that’s a bunch of a malarkey,” countered the future President.

Palin tried the same thing, using phrases like “doggone it” and winking at the audience not once, but four times, to punctuate her responses.

Vice Presidential debates are often stocked with wry humor.

“If you won’t use any football stories, I won’t tell any of my warm and humorous stories about chlorofluorocarbon abatement,” promised then-Vice President Gore during his debate with GOP VP nominee Jack Kemp in 1996.

Gore was known for his views on global warming and environmental policy. A former congressman and Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Kemp also starred at quarterback for the San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills in the American Football League before it merged with the NFL.

A lot of people would pay to be a fly on the wall during some of the debate prep. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., has been playing Walz during the sessions with Vance. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has portrayed Vance during his rehearsals with Walz.

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But you don’t even have to be a fly on the wall for these debates. Sometimes a fly just shows up – and lands on the head of former Vice President Mike Pence. Such was the case when Pence debated Vice President Harris four years ago in Salt Lake City.

But Vice Presidential debates do grow testy.

Besides the fly, many best remember the 2020 Harris/Pence debate for the Vice President repeatedly declaring “I’m speaking,” beseeching Pence to wait his turn.

Viewers also remember Pence and Democratic VP nominee and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., talking all over one another during their 2016 debate.

In the first televised VP debate in Houston in 1976, GOP Vice Presidential nominee and future Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., depicted World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam were “Democrat wars.” He then added that “the pardon of Richard Nixon is behind us. Watergate’s behind us.”

“I think Sen. Dole has richly earned his reputation as a hatchet man tonight,” responded future Vice President and then-Sen. Walter Mondale, D-Minn.

VANCE VS. WALZ: THINK VP DEBATES DON’T MATTER? JUST LOOK AT THESE 6 EXAMPLES

And future President George H.W. Bush drew the ire of female voters when he appeared to speak condescendingly to 1984 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee and Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., – the first woman to ever appear on a major party ticket.

“Let me help you Miss Ferraro about the difference between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon,” said Bush.

“Let me just say, first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy,” shot back Ferraro.

The congresswoman noted she had served nearly six years in the House by that point.

But one zinger from a Vice Presidential debate is without question one of the best lines in the history of American politics.

During the 1988 campaign, the press corps and some in the public jeered at Quayle as Bush 41’s running mate. His youthful looks and frequent verbal faux pas made Quayle seem unprepared for the job. Quayle was 41 years old at the time. But he had already served nearly eight years in the Senate and four in the House. To compensate, Quayle often spun his youth in the same way that late President “Jack Kennedy” captured the imagination of Americans.

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Compared to Quayle, 1988 Vice Presidential nominee and Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Tex., presented himself as poised, stately and steady. Bentsen and his handlers were well aware of Quayle’s “Jack Kennedy” comparisons. And so during the debate in Omaha, Neb., Bentsen waited for Quayle to bait his own trap.

“I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of Vice President of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency,” said Quayle.

Bentsen pounced.

“I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy,” said Bentsen.

The auditorium erupted into hales of applause and shouts.

Quayle stewed, staring daggers at his Senate colleague.

“That was really uncalled for, Senator,” fumed Quayle.

Bentsen’s line has echoed for decades, lampooned on everything from Saturday Night Live to 30 Rock.

Just one historic footnote. JFK and Bentsen never served together in the Senate. But they were members of the House during the same period in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Running mates have two responsibilities. They must demonstrate that they’re ready to step into the main job. And they aren’t supposed to overshadow the actual nominee. Yet with vice presidential debates, the one-liners often do just that.

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

1 DAY AWAY: Don’t miss the Fox News simulcast of the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate, tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET. Learn more.

What’s happening…

-Trump and Vance have done significantly more interviews than Harris-Walz

-Trump narrowly leading Harris in two swing states

-Walz views on single payer health care might come back to bite Harris

Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will face off in a vice presidential debate Tuesday evening, with Fox News airing special programming across its key platforms, including the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital. 

Vance and Walz will travel to New York City for their first and only scheduled debate of the election cycle. The debate will be held at 9 p.m. EST. The debate will be moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan. 

The Fox News Channel, FOX Business Network, Fox News Digital, Fox News Audio and Fox Nation will air special programming of the debate. …Read more

‘NOT WITHDRAWING’: Pentagon finalizes plan to shrink US footprint in Iraq …Read more

SUBPOENA: Comer looking to force DHS to share agency’s Walz-China …Read more

SCHOOL’S OUT: Congress in recess until after election, leaves these key battles on horizon …Read more

BIDEN-HARRIS BLUNDERS: Senate GOP teams up to take on Harris policy pitfalls in pre-election video series …Read more

WHO’S MORE ACCESSIBLE?: Trump-Vance have done significantly more interviews than Harris-Walz …Read more

NOT SO BLUE ANYMORE: Pa. county voters show how deep the ‘purple’ vote runs in Biden’s old backyard …Read more

EARLY VOTING BREAKDOWN: Early voting begins in Nebraska and Washington, DC …Read more

CLOSING THE GAP: Trump narrows Harris’ lead in battlegrounds of Michigan, Wisconsin: poll …Read more

‘RECORD IS HIS ENDORSEMENT’: Vulnerable Dem senator still withholding endorsement from Vice President Harris just weeks before crucial election …Read more

FLASHBACK: Walz’s past views on government-run health care could come back to haunt Harris campaign …Read more

‘NOT FEELING MY BEST’: Dem rep warns donors Harris campaign ‘underwater’ in Michigan …Read more

EYE OF THE STORM: Harris-Trump showdown: Hurricane Helene in eye of the campaign storm …Read more

TOSSED OUT: Blue-state governor bucks several of his party’s progressive initiatives …Read more

‘IMPREGNATED HIS KID’S NANNY’: Liberal pundit, VP Harris’ husband slammed for bizarre exchange on reshaping ‘masculinity’ …Read more

TERRORIST TAKEDOWN: Hamas leader killed in Lebanon was UNRWA employee …Read more

‘LOST SIGHT’: Nantucket residents tell Supreme Court feds ‘lost sight’ of mission to protect endangered whales amid green new deal push …Read more

MOTION TO DISMISS: Embattled mayor refuses to back down as legal team acts to get bribery charge dropped …Read more

IMPROPER PEEK: Veterans Affairs staffers reportedly viewed medical records of JD Vance and Tim Walz, prompting probe …Read more

GRIM FAREWELL: Single Utah mother, 33, raising money for her own funeral after cancer diagnosis gives her 3 months to live …Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

EXCLUSIVE – Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance didn’t let a power outage derail his preparations for Tuesday’s debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s running mate.

A source familiar with the senator’s debate prep tells Fox News Digital that over the last month, former President Trump’s running mate took part in a series of murder board sessions with his team.

For those not familiar with the term, a murder board is a group of people who ask tough questions and have candid discussions to help someone prepare for a difficult examination or test, or in Vance’s case, a vice presidential debate.

THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN OF TUESDAY’S JD VANCE-TIM WALZ VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 

According to the source, Vance conducted a mock debate over the past week, with Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, playing the role of Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Former Trump administration Treasury Department assistant secretary Monica Crowley played the role of one of the moderators from CBS News, which is hosting the debate in New York City.

Halfway through the mock debate, the power went out, as a strong storm slammed through the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, where Vance lives and where the prep session was held. But according to the source, who shared the details first with Fox News, Vance and the team continued on, using lanterns for lighting and cellphones for timers.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE 2024 ELECTION

Emmer, who steered the House Republicans’ campaign committee in the 2020 and 2022 cycles, said last week in a Fox News Digital interview that “it’s an honor to be asked to play a very small part in helping JD and President Trump expose the failures of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

Emmer and Walz overlapped for four years in the House before Walz won election in 2018 as Minnesota’s governor. “I do know him probably as well or better than most on the Republican side,” he said.

And Emmer, taking a shot at his fellow Minnesotan, argued “the hardest part of playing Walz… is trying to tell lies with a straight face, because that’s what he does. He’s good at the debate game, but there isn’t substance there. There’s a lot of air.”

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Former President Trump, asked Monday if he’s given his running mate any advice, told reporters, “No, he doesn’t need it.”

But he added that he and Vance have “been speaking a little bit back and forth” and that he thought the senator was in “good shape.”

Part of the Trump campaign’s strategy ahead of the debate is to raise expectations for Walz.

“Walz is very good in debates. I want to repeat that. Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years. He’ll be very well prepared for tomorrow night,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters on Monday.

Vance, his family, and top aides and advisers arrived in New York City on the eve of the debate.

Fox News confirmed that Vance will speak to a conference of major Republican donors Monday evening in Manhattan.

According to a source familiar with the GOP vice presidential nominee’s plans, Vance will address the American Opportunity Alliance behind closed doors. That’s a network of major GOP contributors that includes billionaire investors/mega donors such as Paul Singer, Ken Griffin and Warren Stephens. The development was first reported by the New York Times.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

SCRANTON, Pa.— While northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna County has been a Democratic stronghold in state and federal elections, voters on the streets of the old coal mining region say the area runs “purple” and will likely be a nail-bitter of an election.

“It’s not as blue as people think. It’s more purple underneath because people are afraid to say anything around here because they think that there’s going to be retaliation. That’s an old thing that goes back generations around here,” David Kveragas told Fox News Digital from a pizza shop on the main drag of Scranton as a storm sloshed rain across the Wyoming Valley last week. 

Lackawanna County is home to cities and towns such as Scranton, Carbondale and Throop, mixing cityscapes backdropped by factories of a bygone era, and dotted with suburbs and expansive farms. The county has long voted blue in state and national elections, last throwing its support behind a Republican in 1984 during President Ronald Reagan’s blowout election when he won each state except Washington, D.C., and Minnesota — the home state of Reagan’s competitor that year, Walter Mondale.

The county has trended right in recent elections, however, teeing up a heightened election battle that will likely help determine how the key battleground state will swing come Nov. 5.

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Between 2000 and 2012, Democratic presidential nominees earned between 56% and 63% of the vote, U.S. News and World Report found. That standard fell below 50% in 2016, when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unsuccessfully ran against former President Donald Trump, but still carried a win for the Democratic Party’s ticket even with the lessened support. 

President Biden was born and raised in Scranton until the age of 10, when his family moved to Delaware. Biden’s hometown status likely helped boost his popularity among locals in the 2020 election, winning 53.58% of the vote to Trump’s 45.23% that year. 

As the election cycle comes down to its final five weeks, Fox News Digital spoke to voters on the streets of Scranton to ask about their top election concerns and who they will cast their ballot for come November. Fox News Digital received a mixed bag of responses, with some voters proudly declaring Vice President Kamala Harris’ support of abortion access earned their vote, while Trump supporters said voters only need to look at their pay stubs from the 2016-2020 era compared to today to determine their ballot choice.

“If you are a minority and a woman, what is the better choice? I’m not here to knock Trump or any candidate. But as a woman of Puerto Rican descent, I feel it’s really important for us to really sit and discuss the pros and cons of each candidate. But especially as a woman,” a local mom named Adrianna, who is supporting Harris in the election, told Fox News Digital. 

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Adrianna is a mom to a young boy and said that inflation issues and childcare issues have rocked her day-to-day life as she has tried to find a daycare for her son for more than a year. When asked if she believes Harris will correct inflation if elected as president after serving as vice president for three and a half years, she responded, “I hope so.”

Adrianna said that while inflation concerns her, abortion is her top voting issue. 

“I believe nobody should tell a woman what to do with her body, especially — not to sound sexist — but a man. I think that should be an individual decision that a woman should make,” she said.

PENNSYLVANIA LEADERS IN BOTH PARTIES TALK GROUND GAME AS GOP SEEKS TO UNDO DEM GAINS: ‘MASSIVE SHIFT’

For Trump supporters, the economy, inflation, national security and immigration came in as top concerns for voters. 

“The price of gas is a big issue with me. I do a lot of driving. And I remember back in the day, you know, when you got $20, it’d fill up your gas tank. It’s just going up and up,” Trump supporter John Soentgerath told Fox News Digital.

“With all due respect to my Democratic friends, I have a lot of them, [under] this previous administration there has been less take-home pay. The prices of gas [is] up, food. And I like to eat like anybody else. You tell me any mother or father that doesn’t want to put food on the table for their kids, give them treats, ice cream, goodies and things of that nature,” Soentgerath added.

Larry West of Scranton told Fox News Digital from a bus stop near The Marketplace at Steamtown that Trump earned his vote for his national security platform as wars continue raging in Ukraine and Israel, saying Harris appears “weak” on foreign affairs. 

‘SCRANTON JOE’ ALIENATING BLUE-COLLAR DEMS WITH RITZY CELEB CAMPAIGN GIGS: POLITICAL INSIDERS

“I’m voting for Donald Trump. And I just believe that as far as globally, I don’t feel that Kamala Harris has what it takes to represent the United States globally. Like especially with all that’s going on with Russia and China,” West said.

Kveragas told Fox News Digital that he is an independent who “voted against Hillary” in 2016, before becoming a Trump supporter while evaluating the 45th president’s record in office. 

HARRIS SUPPORTERS IN PENNSYLVANIA SAY WORKING CLASS WILL SUPPORT HER

“He straightened out the economy. He got the border under control. He cut regulations. He did pretty much everything you would want a — a realistic person would want — a president to do. So with this election, it’s primarily the economy, obviously. My retirement was up 40% under Trump. I lost the 40%, plus another 20% under Biden. So things are terrible there. The border, which we’re being overrun. Obviously, it’s not just a matter of jobs. It’s a matter of housing and crime fighting, fentanyl, which has run rampant. Fentanyl is killing more people than guns,” Kveragas said.

On the flip side, a Harris supporter who identified himself as Michael told Fox Digital that “women’s rights” is his top priority this election cycle. 

“I believe that every woman should have a choice to make their own decision,” he said.

Michael explained that the economy and inflation have also affected his life, saying that he works two jobs to pay the bills and that expenses were much cheaper a decade ago. When asked if he feels Harris is better equipped to handle the economy over Trump, Michael argued that while Trump is a “businessman,” he will “ruin the country.”

“Donald Trump, he is a businessman, yes. But he’s going to ruin the country. He’s going to ruin it. And Kamala Harris, you know, she is more steady-handed. She doesn’t think with an iron fist, and we don’t need that. We’re not trying to go to war with China. [We’re trying to] actually progress in this life. That’s the only thing that we do in this life is to share information and progress,” Michael said. 

GOP GAINS VOTER ADVANTAGE IN PENNSYLVANIA SWING COUNTY NEAR BIDEN’S BIRTHPLACE

Trump’s and Harris’ campaigns have respectively heaped loads of attention on the Keystone State this year, with both candidates repeatedly visiting the massive state, from its rural areas in the rolling hills to industrial cities in the coal and rust belts that run across the state. 

Fox News Digital spoke to both a Trump campaign volunteer and a Harris campaign volunteer, who both work to register Lackawanna voters, door knock and motivate residents to cast a ballot. 

Susanne Green is a Trump campaign volunteer and former Democratic voter who began supporting Trump and Republicans in the last decade. 

BIDEN’S HOMETOWN SPEAKS OUT ON BIDENOMICS

“I grew up in a Democrat household. Here in the valley in Lackawanna County, we believed in ‘Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you could do for your country,’” Green told Fox Digital, quoting President Kennedy’s powerful inaugural address in 1961. “And it really does choke me up some because it’s truthful.”

Green said that her politics have not changed, but that the Democratic Party has morphed into something she can no longer identify with. 

“I haven’t changed. The Democrat Party changed. I was a Democrat. I registered as a Democrat when I turned 18, and I voted Democrat in every election until 2016, when I really saw that that wasn’t the direction that our country needed. Our country really needs to really get back to patriotism and believing that our country is great,” she said.

ARMED SERVICES REPUBLICANS, WHITE HOUSE PUSH BACK AGAINST CLAIMS THAT ZELENSKYY’S PA VISIT WAS ‘POLITICAL’

Green said that when she speaks to locals about the election to motivate them to vote, many Democratic voters will balk at the GOP’s abortion platform. Green said she explains to such voters, most notably suburban women, that Republicans for Choice has long been a powerful vote in the party and that the GOP is not working to place a wholesale ban on abortion.

“I think we can all agree, or most of us can agree, that it should be legal and rare,” Green said in a hat tip to the famous Bill Clinton formulation that abortions be “safe, legal and rare,” a sentiment that has since been purged from the party’s platform in favor of more lax abortion access. 

“That’s how most women that I talk to in my experience over my whole lifetime have said that we wanted abortion to stay legal, but rare.”

Andrew Cutillo, a Harris campaign volunteer in Lackawanna County, spoke to Fox News Digital via a phone call this week and said that he has supported Harris since her campaign launch this summer and touted the VP as someone who can “intuitively” connect with Northeastern Pennsylvania voters based on her middle class upbringing. 

“Kamala Harris is someone who, you know, intuitively understands what it’s like to grow up or live in Northeast Pennsylvania and Scranton, Pennsylvania, as she grew up middle class. Her kind of focus has been on building a strong middle class,” Cutillo said. “Her focus is on supporting families and understanding what families and communities need, that they can live their lives, that they can not worry about paying grocery bills, not worry about paying all the expenses that come with just trying to raise your family.”

Cutillo added that when he’s out door-knocking or speaking with traditionally Republican voters, including his own dad, people have pulled away from Trump because they are “concerned for democracy,” and view Harris as a potential president who would “govern for the people who don’t agree with her, too.”

He said despite the fevered political focus on Scranton and Pennsylvania at large this election cycle, Republican and Democratic neighbors in Northeastern Pennsylvania have and will remain friends no matter how the election shakes out despite any portrayal of “divisiveness” in the battleground state.

Voters in the area remarked that they have been inundated with campaign efforts, with West saying he’s ignored some of the door knockers. 

“I’m flooded with ads, flooded. They have knocked on the door. But I didn’t answer the door because I saw what it was. But we are definitely bombarded with ads,” West said. 

Soentgerath said that he’s seen “a big push from both sides. And again, with all due respect to either side, the bottom line is, if you want change, get up, go to work and pull that lever on Nov. 5.”

While Michael remarked that while he hasn’t seen “too much out here yet,” he noted he has seen more Trump ads than Harris ads.

“So that just means we need to work harder,” Michael said.

Tony Monopoli is a Scranton native who has since moved to another key battleground state, Georgia, and told Fox News Digital that he is supporting Harris in the election. Monopoli was visiting Scranton with his brothers and spoke to Fox News Digital outside of the Lackawanna County Courthouse, where there is a veterans memorial. 

“I think her plans to support small businesses by offering a $50,000 tax credit for small business owners is a big deal. I think her plan to offer $25,000 in first-time homebuyers’ assistance is a big deal, given the cost of homes today. And also, the $6,000 child tax credit for the first year of a child’s life is a big deal,” he explained of his support of Harris.

Fox Digital asked Monopoli if he’s seen more or less campaigning efforts from either candidate in Pennsylvania vs. Georgia, where both candidates are also heavily campaigning for votes.

TIKTOK CREATOR ROASTS OPRAH, HARRIS FOR FEATURING HER IN TOWN HALL INTERVIEW: ‘I DO NOT SUPPORT HARRIS’

“I’d say it’s about the same,” he said. Remarking that he hasn’t “really seen any different” in either area. 

Pennsylvania will again serve as a key battleground state this election cycle as former President Donald Trump and President Biden are anticipated to face a rematch in a state that narrowly voted for Trump in 2016, and elected Biden in 2020 at a 1.17% margin. 

For Soentgerath, he encouraged voters to do their own homework before casting their ballots, leaning on his concerns over the economy, he said voters should simply review their pay stubs from just a few years ago to help determine their vote.

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“Ask yourself, were you better off now, or were you better off four or five years ago? Look at your last pay stub, your last W-2 form. Look at your last mortgage payment. How about your automobile insurance? How about Christmases when you want to buy things for your loved ones as today? Check it out. Weigh it out. And then take it from there.” 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

President Biden discussed the federal response to Hurricane Helene during a press conference on Monday, vowed that he would visit some of the most devastated areas – but not yet. 

At the end of the press conference, which was interrupted by his frequent coughs, the president grew defensive when a reporter pressed him on who was in command over the weekend to direct hurricane response. Biden spent the weekend at his beach home in Delaware. 

The heated exchange happened at the White House after Biden concluded his remarks and turned to leave the Roosevelt Room. 

“And the hurricane. Mr. President, why weren’t you and Vice President Harris here in Washington commanding this this weekend?” a reporter yelled as the president exited. 

“I was commanding it,” Biden retorted from the doorway. “I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well. I command it. It’s called a telephone and all my security people.” 

Biden turned again to leave as the reporter began to ask, “Is it not important for the country to see?” The president left, and the door closed mid-question. 

ASHEVILLE RESIDENTS BATTLING ‘APOCALYPTIC’ AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE HELENE AFTER DEADLY FLOODING, LANDSLIDES

At the start of his remarks, Biden assured that he and his team were “in constant contact with governors, mayors and local leaders” regarding Hurricane Helene. 

The president noted that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell is on the ground in North Carolina and will remain in the Asheville area. Biden recognized reports indicating more than 100 people are dead and about 600 people remain unaccounted for and cannot yet be contacted as a result of the storm. 

“We’re keeping them all in our prayers and all the lives lost and those particular unaccounted for. There’s nothing like wondering is my husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father alive and many more who remain without electricity – water, food and communications and homes and businesses have washed away in an instant. I want them to know we’re not leaving until the job is done,” Biden said. 

“Also want you to know I’m committed to traveling to the impacted areas as soon as possible, but I’ve been told that it would be disruptive if I did it right now,” Biden added. 

NORTH CAROLINA LAWMAKER COMPARES AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE HELENE TO A ‘WARZONE’

He explained that he would visit later in the week. “We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any – any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis. My first responsibility is get all the help needed to those impacted areas,” Biden said. “I expect to be there later this week.” 

“I’m directing my team to provide every, every available resource as fast as possible to your communities to rescue, recover, and to begin rebuilding,” Biden said. 

In addition to FEMA, Biden said he directed the Federal Communications Commission to help establish communications capability, as well as the National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Defense “to provide all the resources at its disposal to rescue and assist in clearing debris and delivering lifesaving supplies.” 

So far, more than 3,600 personnel have been approved so far, the president said. He also approved requests from the governors of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia and Alabama for an emergency declaration. 

Biden said that as president he’s seen “firsthand the devastating toll that disasters like this take on families and communities” and has heard “dozens of stories from survivors about how it feels to be lefty with nothing.” He urged those in impacted areas to head to the warnings from emergency officials.

“Take this seriously. Please be safe. Your nation has your back and the Biden-Harris administration will be there until the job is done,” Biden said. 

The president also acknowledged three members of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department who were seriously hurt in a crash near the Texas-Louisiana border over the weekend. 

“One of the brave teams that volunteered to be there was from San Diego County Fire Department, set to travel all the way from California to North Carolina to help, but on their way they were in a terrible car accident in Louisiana. We pray for their full recovery. But it was a bad accident,” he said.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security for records related to Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz’s alleged connections to the Chinese Communist Party, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Comer, R-Ky., who announced last month that his committee launched an investigation into those alleged “longstanding” ties, is seeking records including intelligence reports, documents, and communications from the Department of Homeland Security. 

Fox News Digital reviewed the subpoena, directed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

HOUSE OVERSIGHT INVESTIGATING WALZ OVER ‘LONGSTANDING CONNECTIONS’ TO CHINA

The subpoena comes after a whistleblower notified the committee of the existence of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees, as well as additional intelligence reports, that allegedly contain information regarding Walz’s alleged connections to the CCP. 

“The committee has recently received whistleblower disclosures informing the Committee of serious concern among Department of Homeland Security personnel regarding a longstanding connection between the CCP and Minnesota Governor Timothy James Walz,” Comer wrote in the subpoena cover letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

The non-classified Microsoft Teams group chat is titled “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync,” and allegedly contains information relevant to Comer’s probe. 

House Oversight Committee officials told Fox News Digital that information regarding Walz and China have been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents under the control of DHS. 

“Specifically, through whistleblower disclosures, the Committee has learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees—titled ‘NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync’—that contains information about Governor Walz that is relevant to the Committee’s investigation,” Comer wrote. “The Committee has also learned that further relevant information regarding Governor Walz has been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS.” 

Comer is subpoenaing Mayorkas for all documents and communications in the Microsoft Teams group chat from July 1, 2024 to present, as well as any uploaded or embedded attachments and documents referring to or relating to Walz or his gubernatorial office or staff. 

TIM WALZ WOULDN’T CALL FOR TIKTOK BAN ON GOVERNMENT DEVICES EVEN THOUGH OVER 75% OF OTHER STATES DID

Comer is also subpoenaing all intelligence information reports and regional intelligence notes from November 2023 to present related to Walz. 

Comer, last month, revealed that Walz has “engaged and partnered with” Chinese entities, making him “susceptible” to the CCP’s strategy of “elite capture” which seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural and academic circles to “influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.” 

Comer has pointed to reports that Walz, while working as a teacher in the 1990s, organized a trip to China for Alliance High School students. The costs were reportedly “paid by the Chinese government.” 

Comer is investigating Walz’s 1994-created private company named “Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.,” which coordinated annual student trips to China until 2003 and was led by Walz. 

The company reportedly “dissolved four days after he took congressional office in 2007.” 

Comer said Walz has traveled to China an estimated “30 times.” 

“In its investigation, the Committee has highlighted the importance of U.S. officials being cognizant of CCP political and psychological warfare efforts that seek to threaten national security,” Comer said last month. 

Comer then pointed to Walz’s time in Congress, noting he served as a fellow at the Macau Polytechnic University — a Chinese institution that characterizes itself as having a “long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.” 

“At the time he disclosed serving as a Macau fellow, Mr. Walz also had significant credit card debt,” Comer said last month upon launching the investigation, noting that in 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota.

“Governor Walz spoke alongside the president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which, a year later, the Department of State exposed as ‘a Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments,’ including efforts to ‘directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,’” Comer said. 

WALZ APPOINTEE WITH APPARENT CCP TIES COULD EXPOSE POTENTIAL VEEP’S NATIONAL SECURITY WEAKNESS, LAWMAKER SAYS

Comer said Walz himself has “admitted that he does not ‘fall into the category that China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship.’” 

“Despite bipartisan efforts to identify and defeat CCP unrestricted warfare against America, Governor Walz continues problematic engagement with concerning entities and individuals,” Comer wrote. 

Comer also pointed to a March 2024 meeting Walz had with Consul General Zhao Jian to discuss “China-U.S. relations and sub-national cooperation.”

Comer, in his letter to Mayorkas Monday, said that his committee’s investigation of the CCP began long before Walz became the Democratic vice presidential nominee, and said it is focused on understanding “the extent of the CCP’s infiltration and influence campaign and to identify legislative reforms to combat CCP political warfare targeting prominent Americans for elite capture.” 

“In particular, if a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare that must be urgently addressed,” Comer wrote. “Along those lines, the Committee is currently considering legislative solutions to ameliorate deficiencies it already has identified among government agencies’ strategies to combat CCP political warfare.”